Since Rin's death, Obito had become hopelessly addicted to role-playing, routinely wearing Madara's identity like a mask as he went around the shinobi world running pyramid schemes and deceiving people.
There was no helping it. Obito himself only had a bit of fame in Konohagakure—who in the wider shinobi world even knew him? Madara's name was simply too useful. The prestige was high; anyone who used it knew how effective it was.
Ever since awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan and obtaining the bug-level space–time dōjutsu Kamui, Obito had become somewhat overconfident. He did not believe there was anyone in the shinobi world capable of killing him.
Unexpectedly, this time he suffered a huge setback in Konohagakure. First, a brat from the Anbu pierced his heart, and then his own teacher caught up with him, nearly sending him straight to the Pure Land with a single Rasengan.
He had not even had time to use Izanagi. If Black Zetsu had not rescued him quickly, he would have had to go to the Pure Land and report his work to the real Madara.
The incident had even left him with a bit of psychological fear toward Konohagakure.
It was not that he feared death. What he feared was dying before fulfilling his wish—to create a world where Rin could live forever in safety and happiness.
Before that goal was achieved, he absolutely could not die.
Inside the underground space where Uchiha Madara had once hidden.
After several days of recuperation, Obito was once again fully recovered.
Half of his body was composed of White Zetsu, and in theory any injury should heal almost instantly. The fact that he had needed several days of rest before recovering was enough to prove how serious his injuries had been this time.
Physical damage could be repaired quickly. The main issue was that Minato was a ninja with keen powers of observation. After seeing that Obito did not die even after Makoto stabbed his heart, he slammed a Rasengan directly into Obito's head, nearly shattering what little sanity he had left.
Unfortunately, the Rasenshuriken's chakra fluctuations were too violent. Minato was still unable to use Flying Thunder God to carry it through space–time. Otherwise, Obito could have achieved the distinction of becoming the first person in the shinobi world to personally "taste" that technique.
One hit would guarantee immediate ascension to the heavens.
At this moment, the fully recovered Obito fastened his mask, put on his hooded outfit, adjusted his voice to sound like Madara's, and arrogantly asked the Black and White Zetsu standing beside him: "Have you found out who the Konohagakure Anbu that ambushed me was?"
White Zetsu bared his teeth and replied with a hint of schadenfreude: "It's someone you know. Why don't you take a guess? If you guess wrong—"
Obito could not be bothered to guess.
"Stop the nonsense. Just say it!"
"It's that brat called Higashino Makoto. He's a member of the Fourth Hokage's shadow guard unit, and he has also learned the Flying Thunder God Technique. In front of the entire village, he used that technique to transfer the Nine-Tails outside Konohagakure. I imagine that at the time he also used Flying Thunder God to flash behind you."
"So it really was that guy."
In Obito's mind appeared the scene of Makoto making him lose face in front of Rin. Old hatred combined with new resentment—the more he thought about it, the more he disliked him.
White Zetsu continued rubbing salt into his wounds: "That brat has achieved great merit on the battlefield more than once. With this latest feat added on, he has become a hero recognized by all of Konohagakure. So, former hero of Konohagakure, do you have anything to say about that? If you do, I can prepare a microphone and a loudspeaker for you."
"Shut up!"
For some reason, he actually felt a bit envious of Makoto, but he quickly suppressed that emotion and changed the subject.
"What about the Fourth and the jinchūriki? Are they still alive?"
"Unfortunately, they're both still alive. It's just that their injuries are too severe, so they've temporarily withdrawn from the public eye. Konohagakure has too many experts in strange jutsu. My clone didn't dare stay in the village for too long, so this is all the intelligence I managed to get."
"Well, that is a bit unfortunate, but this is enough." After thinking for a moment, Obito asked curiously, "If a tailed beast that has been extracted is sealed back into the jinchūriki's body, can the jinchūriki be brought back to life?"
White Zetsu said nothing. His intelligence and knowledge were both quite limited, so Black Zetsu answered instead: "I don't know. Nothing like that has happened before, so all I can say is that it's possible. If you want a definite answer, perhaps Kirigakure would have intelligence of that kind."
On this point, Black Zetsu truly was not lying. After their boss used Yin–Yang Release to split the Ten-Tails into nine tailed beasts, he sent them into suitable environments to be raised free-range.
Over these thousand-odd years, shinobi had naturally always been after the tailed beasts, but very few had succeeded. The thing of seizing all the tailed beasts in one go and sealing them in an instant had only appeared in the last few decades.
It could only be said that Senju Hashirama was too absurdly overpowered. In Black Zetsu's eyes, there was really no difference between this man and his beloved nephew Asura, and in terms of combat performance, he was even much stronger.
Obito muttered, "Kirigakure, huh? Very good. Those bastards may love messing around, but they're still somewhat useful. From now on, let's shift our focus over there."
Black Zetsu, the true boss in substance, had no objection to this. The Land of Water was far from the mainland and closed off year-round, so it really was suitable for their scheming.
"Then what about Konohagakure?"
"For the time being, leave Konohagakure alone. They're too strong, so put them last. Or we can wait for internal strife to break out on their side, and then look for an opportunity."
"Agreed." That was what Black Zetsu thought as well. With their current strength, it truly was not suitable for them to clash head-on with the strongest force.
At the end, he tried asking, "Obito, your injuries were too severe this time. Do you feel any abnormalities now?"
"No. I've already fully recovered."
"That's good."
"And also, don't call me Obito. You are to call me Madara-sama."
"Yes, Madara-sama."
This time, Black Zetsu did not mock him inwardly, because he had other thoughts in mind.
That brat from Konohagakure called Higashino Makoto had, by sheer bad luck, stabbed Obito's heart with a single strike. Although he did not kill Obito, he destroyed the control seal that Madara had left there.
During the past few days, Black Zetsu had quietly placed a new control seal on him, which was why he had just asked Obito how he was feeling.
If it had not been for applying the seal mark, Obito actually would not have needed to remain unconscious for so long.
For the sake of ensuring that his plan succeeded, Black Zetsu would absolutely not allow any possibility for the tools under his command to escape his control.
...
The area of damage the Nine-Tails caused to Konohagakure's buildings was not very large, but the location was extremely important.
The center of Konohagakure had become a field of ruins and needed to be rebuilt.
And there, aside from the commercial district, the area was mainly occupied by the great clans. They were the original shareholders from the time Konohagakure was founded, so naturally they occupied the most central location.
The clans that joined later, or the civilians who gradually gathered, built their residences around them, step by step expanding Konohagakure to the scale it had today.
Neither the Land of Fire nor Konohagakure lacked money, so reconstruction was simple.
Clear the ruins, level the land, and rebuild the houses exactly as they were.
However, the higher-ups of Konohagakure decided to take advantage of this reconstruction to reorganize the territories of the various clans. The stated reason was that doing so would make Konohagakure look more orderly and more modern.
The main purpose, naturally, was to take the opportunity to kick the Uchiha Clan out of the village center and move them away from where the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki was located.
For this kind of task that would offend people, Hiruzen pulled out his anti-Uchiha treasure—Shimura Danzō. Since this suggestion had originally been proposed by him, it was naturally up to him to carry it out.
That morning, at Konohagakure's reconstruction meeting, the heads of the great clans all participated. Danzō enjoyed the feeling of being the center of everyone's attention. At that moment, he felt as though he were the Hokage, holding a stick and pointing across the map as he laid out the grand strategy.
Regarding the allocation of each clan's territory, there were basically no major changes. Only two clans were relocated, but their situations were completely different.
The Aburame Clan had voluntarily requested relocation.
Their clan had lived in the center of the village. When Konohagakure was first established, the outer areas were still forests, making everything very convenient. But as the village repeatedly expanded in size, their surroundings had all turned into residential districts, which was no longer very suitable for raising insects.
So they applied to move to the edge of the village. The higher-ups approved the request and even allocated them a forest specifically for breeding various insects.
The Uchiha Clan, however, was relocated by force.
Danzō pointed to an empty plot in the eastern corner of Konohagakure and said: "This time the headquarters building of the Police Force was damaged. There's no need to repair it—just rebuild it directly here.
"Correspondingly, the Uchiha Clan should also move…"
As soon as Fugaku heard this, he immediately objected. It was obvious they were trying to push the Uchiha Clan out of the village center. He stood up at once and retorted: "Danzō-sama, the Uchiha are the Police Force responsible for maintaining Konohagakure's security. This place is far too distant from the village center. If some emergency occurs, how are we supposed to respond?"
Danzō's face darkened.
"If there is an emergency, the Anbu will be dispatched."
Fugaku became even more anxious. The Police Force's functions already overlapped with the Anbu to begin with. If things continued like this, the authority in the Police Force's hands would truly be reduced to little more than dealing with vendors occupying the streets.
The dignified Uchiha Clan fought bravely on the battlefield and won victories for Konohagakure, yet after returning home they could only do this?
He cast a pleading look toward the Third.
Hiruzen ignored his request and said sternly: "The Police Force often needs to train, correct? There's a good training ground next to that area. From now on, it will be allocated exclusively for your clan's use."
He offered a training ground as a consolation prize, directly extinguishing Fugaku's intention to continue resisting.
The heads of the other clans all remained silent, tacitly accepting the matter.
The Uchiha Clan carried suspicions they could not clear in this Nine-Tails incident, and keeping the Sharingan away from the jinchūriki was beneficial for everyone. None of them wanted to see the Nine-Tails run out again and dance in the center of Konohagakure.
Fugaku looked around at the expressions of everyone present and immediately understood that the matter was already settled. It was not something he could change. He could only sit down and begin thinking about what to do afterward.
At the end of the meeting, Hiruzen said to everyone: "The Fourth is recovering from his injuries. I will temporarily assume the position of Hokage until he recovers.
"Konohagakure has suffered serious damage this time. I believe the other nations will not remain idle. The day after tomorrow I will travel to the capital of the Land of Fire to explain the matter to the Daimyō and request funds to handle the reconstruction and the possible war that may follow. I ask for everyone's full support."
"Yes, Third-sama."
No one had any objections to this. Hiruzen had already served as Hokage for decades. Everyone was accustomed to following his command and did not feel anything inappropriate about it.
As for war, no one would shrink back. Protecting Konohagakure meant protecting their own families. On this point, even Fugaku, who had just been suppressed, would not hesitate.
After the meeting ended, Fugaku's mind buzzed. His head ached terribly.
How was he supposed to return and explain this to those straightforward clansmen of his?
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